Description: All Miki Koishikawa wanted was an ordinary family…and that’s exactly what she had until her parents decided to move in with another couple and turned Miki’s world upside down. Now she lives in a house with four parents and her totally cute stepbrother Yuu. It’s bad enough being brought into her parents’ strange soap opera, but Miki will star in a soap of her own as she deals with friends having affairs, trying to survive in school and ending up torn between her long-time crush, Ginta, and her new stepbrother!
Amazon.com: The plot of the popular teen comedy Marmalade Boy consists of a series of interlocking romantic polygons that suggest a cross between The Brady Bunch and As the World Turns. Toryo High School junior Miki Koshikawa is appalled when her parents announce that they and their friends the Matsuras have decided to divorce, switch partners, remarry, and live together. This marital mix-and-match scheme forces Miki into contact with the Matsuras' handsome son Yuu. His mischievous sense of humor plays against what is basically a warm, gentle nature, leading Miki to compare him to the bittersweet taste of orange marmalade.
The budding romance between Miki and Yuu upsets Ginta, whom Miki nurtured a crush on two years earlier. Arimi, Yuu's conniving former girlfriend, suggests she and Ginta pretend to date to make Miki jealous. Their sham romance infuriates Ginta's obnoxious cousin Tsutomu, who adores Arimi and hates Yuu. Tsutomu provides welcome comic relief, as he's always losing bets that require him to shave his head. Meanwhile, Meiko, Miki's best friend, dodges the attentions of student body president Satoshi to pursue a star-crossed romance with one of her teachers.
It's not clear just what Yuu and Ginta see in fussy, indecisive Miki. The relationships in Marmalade Boy go through more twists and turns than an L.A. freeway, but the series ran for 76 episodes--three times as long as Evangelion, which also debuted in 1995--and has remained popular ever since. (Rated 13 and older: minor cartoon violence, minor profanity, alcohol use) --Charles Solomon
Excellent for the Romantics and Soap Opera Addicts I'm not going into the plot anymore since other reviewers have already done that. And I definitely do not agree with that other reviewer, Razor Queen(Witch Hunter) and H. Stewart. As mentioned in my title, if you are a romantic at heart and you like those soap opera-ish -plot, then you will like this. Now if you're some cold hearted, jaded, cynical person - maybe not.
Obviously this anime is geared towards girls - it is shoujo. And of course the animation seem oldish, its been years since this was first released. However, the characters, story, and plot are all very entertaining and interesting. I think at one point or another girls experienced all the emotions, stages and thoughts that the female characters of the show feel so they can really do relate. I don't think the plot or the characters are impossible at all. I'm in my upper 20's and I watched this back when I was about 17/18. I'm rewatching it right now and I STILL love it.
After watching the all of the first boxset in dub, I can say that Miki's english voice actress seemingly was able to capture the spirit and "genki-ness"; Yuu and Ginta at first I wasn't sure but after a few episodes they both sound good; Meiko does sound all calm and peaceful so that's fine. Arimi on the other hand though, I'm not really sure. There doesn't seem to be much passion/life in her voice. The rest of the cast were all fine - at least to me, I was able to tolerate it so it must have been fine with me. Of course, I'll always prefer the actual Japanese voice actors but I think English dub sounds alright save for the few comments above. And the music is TRULY lovely.
I actually bought all four boxset dvds. And thank goodness I was able to get them. Looks like they will be out of print forever =( And even if they do get released again, who knows how much the new company will charge?! I think Tokyopop did a great job with all four boxsets. My only complaint is that there didn't seem too many extra goodies on the dvds. A few discs had outtakes and a few character profiles but that was pretty much it. I wish they'd put more, like more Marmalade Boy pictures/collages or even Japanese voice actors specials, etc. But either way, I'm still happy they released the boxsets.
The 1st boxset came with a mini pencilboard - yay! The boxset itself is sturdy. Inside the box is another sturdy box that opens and up and all the dvds are there. The boxset and whats inside has pictures of different scenes/snapshots of events in the show. There is also a leaflet inside with translations, etc.
The animes I've watched and liked, are obviously this one, Fushigi Yuugi, Boys Over Flowers, Juuni Kokki, Naruto, Rurouni Kenshin, Death Note, Koi Kaze and mannnny more! Bottomline: I LOVE THIS ANIME!
Great anime! Marmalade Boy is a great series and a must-see for fans of romance/comedy anime. The characters are unique, real, and endearing;even the antagonists are likable. The story is light-hearted and funny but also has a good deal of drama. The fact that relationships progress throughout this series is something that sets Marmalade Boy apart from many others. Although the last fifteen or so episodes are hard to get through (lots of angst), the ending is well worth the wait.
be prepared for a bumpy ride there are four seasons to this and it is a up and down adventer for this couple that is love and hate all the way
I love it! I began reading the Marmalade Boy manga 5 years ago. It was great. I also own all 8 books. I purchased this DVD and it was pretty good. I mean, it's kinda not that well drawn in the first DVD, but it gets better. I thought the anime Miki was more whiny than the manga Miki. The anime expands the plots and makes it pretty fun to watch. Though there were some slow parts that I thought took away from the original, but then again, it's based on the manga, not taken directly word for word, scene for scene.
I am saving up money to get the other 3 DVD volumes. It's a definite on my list of things to get and watch.
Good anime I was 17 when I first saw a few episodes of Marmalade Boy. At the time, I was turned off by a couple of things, namely the seemingly exaggerated romance and character design (I, like some reviewers before me, thought the characters were elongated). Also, I found the protagonist Miki to be annoying back then... And Yuu? Well, I didn't exactly find him to be special. To be frank, I didn't like this show at all when I was 17. I saw some random episodes and refused to watch any more of it. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say I pretty much detested the show back then. I didn't understand why anyone would waste his/her time watching Marmalade Boy.
BUT, perhaps, I didn't know better when I was 17. I essentially judged Marmalade Boy on superficial factors and failed to notice what makes it truly appealing. In fact, when I saw this show in its entirety at 22, I finally came to appreciate it.
Where did the difference lie? Well, for me, it was clearly personal experience that changed my feelings toward Marmalade Boy. When I was 17, I didn't know what love was. I didn't understand how anyone could get so emotional over someone they like and things of the sort. However, at 22, I had experienced all the ups and downs of loving someone, and on seeing the show, I realized that I could relate exactly to what most of the characters were going through. In fact, I think Marmalade Boy's strongest point is the well-designed (and easy-to-relate to) characters. I know that some people have labeled Yuu as a "pansy" and so on just because he prefers to keep things to himself. However, I know a lot of guys in real life who do the same thing, and watching this show actually helped me understand how they feel (generally speaking, most guys of this personality type are really sweet and sentimental). Actually, I'd say that Marmalade Boy's characters are fairly realistic in terms of personality and emotions. Yuu's and Miki's parents are probably the only characters that are somewhat out of sync with reality, but hey, they excel at providing comic relief. ^^
All in all, Marmalade Boy was an emotional ride for me, and I loved every minute of its simplicity and sweetness. And no, I'm not a little girl, and last time I checked, my brain was full of things other than cherry blossom petals (in fact, it's overloaded with marketing concepts as that's my field of study). Anyway, I highly recommend this series to shoujo fans. However, for those of you who place heavy weight on animation quality and character design as I did when I was 17 (or are looking for a series with an intricate storyline), then this show probably isn't for you.
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